Stave makin :) and a bit of tillering.
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Thats the great thing about archery, there is a bow for everyone. Not personally a fan of laminates but I do see their appeal.
Some like bells whistles and cams, others sights stabilisers and glass. I felt like it was cheating when i added a bone arrow rest and string nock
I do prefer a more "primitive" bow but that's not to say they cannot perform as well as a laminated bow.
Primitive is also a very emotive work amongst bowyers. Personally by primitive I just mean one piece of wood with a modern string. To some this means only made with stone tools and natural materials for the string.
I will agree that it is "easier" poor choice of word i know to build a laminate bow that performs well. This is simply because you can glue in your ideal profile rather than using heat to get that shape. You can also get away with lesser timber because you are backing it with grass.
The fastest self bow i have made pushed 180fps so it is possible to get a very fast arrow from self bows, more so with the masters. But i am happy to sacrifice a few fps for some nice character to look at or a fancy profile shape
At the end of the day wood is wood and its all down to design
And if the bow is a little slower, just aim a bit higher lol
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Recognise this yarrow?
The outer bark and subsequent inner layers were very strange being made up of lots of layers. Lovely wood to work so far thanks again for lugging this miles through snow.
The outer bark and subsequent inner layers were very strange being made up of lots of layers. Lovely wood to work so far thanks again for lugging this miles through snow.
Glad you are having fun with it The bark is very odd and it leaves quite a pronounced undulating back to the bow when removed, but I kind of like it. For the record the stave is from a Willow-leaved Pear - Pyrus salicifolia; the tree was pipe straight and a good 20" in diameter. I have two near completion one a flat bow ish type and a elb style just to see how the wood compares with the two designs. Cant get to them at the moment though as its stopped raining! Momentous events such as this need to be celebrated with back breaking toil, so I am putting a new roof on my workshop as the old one was a sieve.
So what's the plan and draw weight? Re-curve? I bet you get your shooting before mine
The bark is very odd and it leaves quite a pronounced undulating back to the bow when removed, but I kind of like it. For the record the stave is from a Willow-leaved Pear - Pyrus salicifolia; the tree was pipe straight and a good 20" in diameter. I have two near completion one a flat bow ish type and a elb style just to see how the wood compares with the two designs. Cant get to them at the moment though as its stopped raining! Momentous events such as this need to be celebrated with back breaking toil, so I am putting a new roof on my workshop as the old one was a sieve.So what's the plan and draw weight? Re-curve? I bet you get your shooting before mine
As requested - a few pics of today's work.
First bit was hard to do. The stave was well over 6' but I just couldn't see a way round this knot. It ran in at an awkward angle right across the bit of wood I wanted to use. Moving the centreline round to clear it started getting into another knot at the other end. It also introduced a reflex kink that'd formed while drying. The longer I looked at it the less I liked it...
...so I bit the bullet and abandoned the longbow idea.
There was another knot that played a part in deciding the shape of the bow but that's most of it gone now and I reckon the rest will come out during tillering.
So ended up with a 5', pretty much straight taper mini longbow affair. It's from the tension side and has taken on an inch and a half of reflex while the stave was drying(was about 2½" before lopping off the end). The couple of remaining knots are nice and central.
On the plus side it'll just fit in the cockpit of the wee canoe now so maybe a plinker for taking camping, low forties at 27" or so. Something that won't break arrows while roving...
...or 30lb@25". My mum's about due a new bow.
Bark removal now. I'll taper the sapwood, the full ¼" at the handle down to half that at the tips.
- a few pics of today's work.First bit was hard to do. The stave was well over 6' but I just couldn't see a way round this knot. It ran in at an awkward angle right across the bit of wood I wanted to use. Moving the centreline round to clear it started getting into another knot at the other end. It also introduced a reflex kink that'd formed while drying. The longer I looked at it the less I liked it...
...so I bit the bullet and abandoned the longbow idea.
There was another knot that played a part in deciding the shape of the bow but that's most of it gone now and I reckon the rest will come out during tillering.
So ended up with a 5', pretty much straight taper mini longbow affair. It's from the tension side and has taken on an inch and a half of reflex while the stave was drying(was about 2½" before lopping off the end). The couple of remaining knots are nice and central.
On the plus side it'll just fit in the cockpit of the wee canoe now so maybe a plinker for taking camping, low forties at 27" or so. Something that won't break arrows while roving...
...or 30lb@25". My mum's about due a new bow.
Bark removal now. I'll taper the sapwood, the full ¼" at the handle down to half that at the tips.
Glad you are having fun with it
So what's the plan and draw weight? Re-curve? I bet you get your shooting before mine
Well the plan has been changing most of the evening. Would have liked a nice long flipped tips affair but a rotten crack appeared next to the edge of the upper 3rd of the limb. So removed all of that so now i am into a static or molly territory. So onto removing wood from the belly and just as my luck will have it another 2inch split running up the limb about 4 inches from the fade....
So have now removed the rotten wood from the split and chucked some glue in there to stop it getting worse. It does run with the grain so I should have a good chance
Do like a challenge.
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As requested
First bit was hard to do. The stave was well over 6' but I just couldn't see a way round this knot. It ran in at an awkward angle right across the bit of wood I wanted to use. Moving the centreline round to clear it started getting into another knot at the other end. It also introduced a reflex kink that'd formed while drying. The longer I looked at it the less I liked it...
...so I bit the bullet and abandoned the longbow idea.
There was another knot that played a part in deciding the shape of the bow but that's most of it gone now and I reckon the rest will come out during tillering.
So ended up with a 5', pretty much straight taper mini longbow affair. It's from the tension side and has taken on an inch and a half of reflex while the stave was drying(was about 2½" before lopping off the end). The couple of remaining knots are nice and central.
On the plus side it'll just fit in the cockpit of the wee canoe now so maybe a plinker for taking camping, low forties at 27" or so. Something that won't break arrows while roving...
...or 30lb@25". My mum's about due a new bow
Bark removal now. I'll taper the sapwood, the full ¼" at the handle down to half that at the tips.
That is some lovely yew you have there. Funny how its starts with the best intentions but eventually you end up with the bow that was in the wood all the time rather than the one you wanted.
Would be great if this thread attracted others who wanted to make a bow and just posted pics of where they were upto. Then others with a little more experience can chip in and help new guys get a working bow.
Happy to offer my limited experience and I rekon the other gents above would help too
That is some lovely yew you have there. Funny how its starts with the best intentions but eventually you end up with the bow that was in the wood all the time rather than the one you wanted.
It is lovely...
...and here's me deliberately rasping in ring violations all the way down both limbs.
Have heard in the past that yew is forgiving and I know tapering it's sapwood is a perfectly normal thing to do but it sure feels odd to be doing it.
One little bonus though. Built-in nock overlays.
Had I been going for a heavier draw weight I'd have put on antler overlays, got a couple lying about from a previous attempt.
Don't really see this one coming out heavy though so I'll just go straight into the wood with the nocks.
Added a wee ghost of a handle.
Hasn't all been sweetness and light. This appeared when the bark came off.
Was a fair length but shortened rapidly with each layer of sapwood removed. I don't think it goes into the heartwood. Have decided to tidy it up then ignore it(...and keep an eye on it at the same time
).
Don't really see this one coming out heavy though so I'll just go straight into the wood with the nocks.
Added a wee ghost of a handle.
Hasn't all been sweetness and light. This appeared when the bark came off.
Was a fair length but shortened rapidly with each layer of sapwood removed. I don't think it goes into the heartwood. Have decided to tidy it up then ignore it(...and keep an eye on it at the same time
Going to be a lovely bow that. Yew is the only wood I dont mind violating the back grain, providing its even and not abrupt.
Some yew its near impossible if you have to thin the sapwood.
Some yew its near impossible if you have to thin the sapwood.
The knot was never a worry, it runs right through cleanly.
The longitudinal cracks running out from it were what I was meaning. Directly under the bark they were about 3-4" long each - a bit of an "eek" moment when I first saw them.
May well soak some glue into what's left of them after I've tided round the knot.
Right now if I'm worried about anything it's that the more heartwood I take off the belly the more the reflex along the length is increasing. It's gone up an inch to 2½" and I've just barely got the bow starting to bend.
Still looking at it as a good thing but if it goes much further I'll maybe thin the sapwood a little more, it obviously has a lot of built-in tension.
The longitudinal cracks running out from it were what I was meaning. Directly under the bark they were about 3-4" long each - a bit of an "eek" moment when I first saw them.
May well soak some glue into what's left of them after I've tided round the knot.
Right now if I'm worried about anything it's that the more heartwood I take off the belly the more the reflex along the length is increasing. It's gone up an inch to 2½" and I've just barely got the bow starting to bend.
Still looking at it as a good thing but if it goes much further I'll maybe thin the sapwood a little more, it obviously has a lot of built-in tension.
2 inch of reflex is cool enough and if it goes to three I wouldn't mind my self. I find a lot of that late tension change will come out early in tillering anyway.
Does make keeping it on the tree a pain in the butt so I do a lot more floor tiller. Can even put it on top of two blocks one at each end of the limb and use a clamp to bend it at the handle whilst getting a good look at the tiller.
Going to have a go at this pear again today and see if the big dead crack gives me any problems. post pics later.
Something I've been missing 'till now.
(Used a big mirror for a couple and tillered the other by setting up a tarp and watching the shadow.)
Have four staves here though, about time I had some kind of tree so took a break from the bow and...
...Ta-Da! Baby's first tillering stick.
I'm quite excited, you can probably tell.
It's a couple of inches short still, I'll be adding a block later that'll cradle the bow handle and bring the stick up to length.
Something I've been missing 'till now.
(Used a big mirror for a couple and tillered the other by setting up a tarp and watching the shadow.)
Have four staves here though, about time I had some kind of tree so took a break from the bow and...
...Ta-Da! Baby's first tillering stick.
I'm quite excited, you can probably tell.
It's a couple of inches short still, I'll be adding a block later that'll cradle the bow handle and bring the stick up to length.
I started off using one of these and it did the trick for a long while. Since moved onto the tiller board and pulley as the time in tension is much less which helps reduce set.
Not going so well at this end
This started out as a thin crack and i was hoping it would stop there, maybe glue and wrap it up.
Started to remove more wood
Then thought ill carry on and see if i can clean it up some or maybe fill it later on, then its evil twin shows up to the party
Real killer as this is a pear stave which you just dont come across often.
Wood is mean Leon. You try to give it a place in your life. But sometimes it would rather even get burned in the stove
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